Pontefract in Bloom is run by volunteers. We obtain sponsorship, apply for grants, liaise with the plant nursery and organise planting and maintenance of planters and flower beds by recruiting volunteer helpers. Since spring 2018 we have worked in collaboration with Day Opportunities, an organisation providing employment for people with learning disability, based at Thornes Park Nurseries in Wakefield. In early spring and autumn we purchase bedding plants as plug plants and they are grown on for us at Thornes Park Nurseries until they are ready for planting. Most of the planters are planted for the summer display under cover by our nursery provider, First Impressions Nurseries at Ackworth, and installed in the Town Centre in early June with the plants well established.
We work with other community groups: Friends of Pontefract Park, Friends of Friarwood Valley Gardens and St Giles' Church by providing plants and helping with the planting of their flower beds in spring and autumn. Pontefract and Castleford Lions Club plant and maintain two stone troughs in the Town Centre.
Friends of Pontefract Park Planting a tiered planter Day Opportunities